Living the Legacy
by CammieZachZammie
Summary: Everyone expects Lauren Goode to be the perfect spy. Just look at her parents. But in truth, Lauren is just a teenage girl who still wants the reassurance of adults and the comfort of her parents-what she doesn't realize is the legacies don't always get that. L/A R/M M/J K/J
1. Chapter 1

**TRAILER**

"I swear Lauren Ann Goode, if you even _think_ of using that on me, you'll be facing a broken arm."

"Well, you see Megan Grace Newman, we all know I can take you."

"Oh, you're on."

"You know, I think Lauren is actually making sense for once."

"Ha. Ha. Ha. I'm laughing sooo hard."

"I can tell."

"Shut up."

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"I am not breaking into my grandmothers' bedroom!"

"You chose dare."

"Yeah. An _easy one_, Megan. Not a if-I-get-caught-my-parents-and-grandparents-will-k ill me scenario."

"Your parents wouldn't kill you."

"Yeah but then Mom and Dad wouldn't let me go on missions. And that'd be even worse."

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"Hey, Kaylie, do you ever wonder what Jace thinks of you?"

"Yeah. Maybe something involving a passageway?"

"EWW! I'm NEVER using passageways again!"

"Isn't that was she said _last_ time?"

"Yeah. Her promise lasted a day."

"That's besides the point, Ruby."

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"Kaylie, run around the perimeter with Layla and try to knock down the guards over there! Ruby and I will try breaking into the safe."

"But they're trained _terrorist guards_."

"I know. That's why I'm asking you to."

"Fine. But you owe me Doritos."

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"Make one move and she dies!"

"Mom, don't fall for it!"

"Oh, but you see, Ms. Goode, we aren't kidding."

"Neither am I."

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"GO!"

"Mom, I—"

"Just go, Lauren!"

"There is no way I'm leaving you back here."

"I'll be fine."

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"She'll be okay. She'll be okay. She'll be okay."

"Lauren go to sleep. You're going insane."

"I don't care. I want my mom."

"Sometimes you learn to live without those you love."

"Not me."

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"You'll get over it, Laur."

"NO I WON'T!"

"Stop crying! I swear, it'll be okay!"

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"You need therapy."

"And what would this therapy include?"

"Maybe a teenaged boy named Adam?"

"Why Adam?"

"Well all know what you two were doing in that passageway."

"_Studying_, Kaylie."

"Oh yes, I'm sure it was _just_ studying."

"But it was!"

**Coming Soon to a mobile device near you  
**

**~Alex**


	2. Welcome Back

**A/N Even though I got only two reviews (nadiyahill1997 and RoseSilver999—thanks to you both!) I've wanted to write a story like this **** So enjoy chapter 2! And check out my Facebook page Ally Carter Fandom. And my story 'Falling For Her' just a few chapters left!**

**P.S. CONTAINS UNITED WE SPY SPOILERS**

**~Alex**

**Lauren POV**

I'm alone as I write this. Well, I'm usually alone anyway. It doesn't help being back to the Gallagher Academy three weeks before everyone else with just my grandmother (Rachel), my grandpa (Joe Solomon) and sometimes my paternal grandfather (Edward Townsend) comes by to challenge Grandpa Joe to a sparring match which is always fun to watch.

I hear a sound above my little crevice, signaling that everyone else has started to arrive. I slowly slink out of my little hiding spot so no one else can find it, then tiptoe upstairs to my roommates and my room and let the door open the slightest bit.

I see my best friend Megan there, unpacking all by herself. I slowly sneak out behind her, then put my hands over her eyes, and she immediately twists my hand, but I counter it, and use my leg to swipe her down then performed a Bazinsky Maneuver on her, making her fall down on the carpet.

My best friend grins up at me and said, "Way to go, Lauren dear," in a British accent she inherited from her mother (not to mention the fact that she was born and raised in Britain while Aunty Bex worked for MI6).

I calmly sit on my bed, blowing a bubble with the piece of gum I had snuck off her bedside table and say, "Are Ruby and Kaylie back yet?"

Ruby Anderson and Kaylie Winters are my two other best friends; and their mothers are my mother's best friends.

Just at that moment a blond blur flies through the door and flings her suitcase onto the bed, but misses and her suitcase lands on top of Megan's clothing.

"Hey, Ruby," Megan grins as our smallest and smartest roommate enters the room, her brown eyes shining like stars that comes after spending an entire summer in Florida with your parents and siblings.

"Hi," says Ruby, flopping down on her bed. "So, have any teachers given any extra credit assignments yet?"

Her voice sounds hopeful, yet dead serious, but I still smile as I say, "Sorry, Ruby, not yet."

Her face falls, but brightens again as a voice outside our door says, "Anyone going to be a dear and help me get this stupid suitcase through the door?"

Ruby jumps up and flings open the door, causing it to crash against the wall as our fourth roommate enters the room with at least four suitcases at hand.

I grin at Kaylie, "Isn't that a tad too much clothing before the start of school?"

She just rolls her beautiful blue eyes at me. "Nope. I wanted to bring at least fifty other T-shirts and a lot of skirts and heels, but Mom said no."

"Thank goodness," murmured Megan, trying to pick up a suitcase and dumping it on Kaylie's bed.

I take out an expensive-looking perfume and spray it all around me and it lands on Megan's big brown eyes.

"I swear Lauren Ann Goode, if you even _think_ of using that on me, you'll be facing a broken arm."

"Well, you see Megan Grace Newman, we all know I can take you."

"Oh, you're on."

"You know, I think Lauren is actually making sense for once," Kaylie grins.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. I'm laughing sooo hard."

"I can tell."

"Shut up."

I just love the start of school.

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"Who are we?" asks our headmistress, my grandmother, and the woman my mom swears I look like.

"We are the sisters of Gillian," we all say, even the newbies. This is…I think the 7th time I say these words at a Welcome Back dinner. It is the first semester of my sophomore year; the year when we actually _start _Covert Operations.

"Why do we come?"

"To learn her skills, honor her sword and keep her secrets."

"To what ends will we fight?"

"For all the days of our lives."

We all sit down, and my grandmother tucks a stand of dark brown hair (which, despite popular belief, I inherited from my dad's side of the family) and smiles at a room of a hundred girls waiting for her words.

"Welcome to a new year girls. Seventh graders, welcome to our sisterhood. You will find it will be a large adjustment compared to your previous schools', so I suggest you stay on task at all times. Just a few other announcements." Grandma pauses for breath, then continues,

" Sophomores, your Drivers Ed application forms are due by next Monday. Turn your form in to Madame Dabney. Juniors, your Biochemistry Explosives and Chemicals Safety Packet is due by tomorrow. Drop it off by Ms. Harding's office. Seniors, your senior pictures will be taken on September 19th, so make sure to get your evening gowns out. Congratulations to our seniors; I'm extremely proud of you. Have a wonderful year girls!"

We turn around, and, like Madame Dabney taught us, shake our linen napkins gently, and place them across our lap (Ruby never _ever_ misses the chance to get extra credit points), and begin to converse.

"Sooo, Lauren, I heard that you took down a terror organization called the Ring of Sandulb?" says Melissa Baker, making sure her elbows aren't on the table.

I shake my head and say, "Melissa, all I did involving fieldwork was go on a mission involving an arms dealer in the Mediterranean with Megan and her parents."

"And I heard you were ambushed on that mission?"

"No, Melissa."

The rest of dinner passes by quickly, with everyone gossiping and talking about the stuff they did over break, and, of course, eating our five-star gourmet food courtesy of Chef Louis.

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"I. Am. Exhausted," says Ruby collapsing on her bed, but accidently hitting her head on her tremendous bookcase.

"I'm not," Kaylie grins. "What about a game of Truth or Dare, girls?"

Ruby and I groan simultaneously, but Megan grins at Kaylie like Christmas just came early. "All right!"

Kaylie takes out an empty bottle of this incredible Mexican soda called 'Jarrito' and I raise my eyebrows at her.

She shrugs. "I was thirsty on the plane ride back, and this seemed like the best to get." I just shake my head, but proceed to sit cross-legged on the floor of our suite, Megan on my right and Ruby on my left.

"We should invite the rest of the sophomores!" Kaylie says a grin lighting up her face.

"No way!"

"Yes!"

"No! No way, Kaylie Marie Winters! Never in a millon years!"

"So we're on full name basis are we now, Lauren Ann Goode?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Both of you, chill out!" Ruby's voice sounded quite loud in that moment.

We both shut up immediately; It's no t that often that Ruby raises her voice, but when she does, watch out.

"Fine. Truth or Dare, Ruby?" says Kaylie, seating herself across from me. Ruby thinks for a minute, weighing the risks and rewards in the giant database that is her brain.

Finally, slowly and cautiously, she says, "Dare."

Let's get one thing straight. I am a trained spy that is supposed to be ready for anything (Not to mention the fact that I've been going on missions since I was old enough to talk), but _a lot_ of people still manage to shock me to the extremes. Like Ruby, for instance.

Kaylie grins again and says, with a triumphant air, "I dare you not to do _any_ extra credit assignments for a month."

Ruby gasps, and her hand goes over her mouth. "No!"

"You chose dare, Ruby dear."

"Yes, but I didn't expect something as horrible as that!"

"You have to do it, Ruby."

Ruby takes a big, deep, calming breath as if trying to clear away all bad thoughts and says, "Fine," in a slow, scary, frightened voice.

Kaylie grins in triumph, then Ruby turns to me and says, "Truth or Dare, Lauren?"

"There is no way I'm choosing truth after Ruby chose dare, so I choose truth."

"Jeez, no need to be so wordy, Laur."

"Get on with it."

"I dare you to break into your grandparents' bedroom and plant a camera and at least one bug."

My eyes turn into tennis balls. She. Is. Crazy. Break into my grandparents' bedroom? Easy enough, but planting _cameras and bugs_? Freaking impossible.

"I am not breaking into my grandparents' bedroom!"

"You chose dare."

"Yeah. An _easy one_, Ruby. Not an if-I-get-caught-my-parents-and-grandparents-will-k ill me scenario."

"Your parents wouldn't kill you."

"Yeah but then Mom and Dad wouldn't let me go on missions. And that'd be even worse."

I love going on missions; literally. My dad took me on my first mission when I was a year and a half old. My mom took me on my second mission when I was two years old. My 20-year-old sister (Nicole Cameron Goode) took me on her tenth mission, along with my eleven year old brother, Joseph Andrew Goode, known as Joey since our step grandpa's name is Joseph.

"Not. An. Excuse," said Megan's voice bringing me back to reality.

I took a deep breath and said, "What's in it for me?"

Ruby thought for about half a second and said, "The honor of knowing you managed to successfully place a bug in the bedroom of two of the best spies in the world aka your grandparents'. Also…you're grandma might be a bit useful in my latest experiment."

I cringed. "I don't want to know what you're experiment is," I told her. Ruby just shook her head, blond hair framing her thin face. A sort of triumphant look crossed her face as she said, "You see, I think I might have managed to hack into the CIA's top secret databases," —her gaze lingered over to me—"including the _most top secret files of your parents_."

I was still shaking my head. "No. There are some things we aren't supposed to know. All I need to know is my parents have done some pretty dangerous stuff. I just don't want to know what."

A sort of pained look crossed Megan's beautiful features. "Laur, when will you stop being so sensitive?"

"It's not being sensitive. It's being careful. But,"—I took a deep breath—" I will do the dare."

"YES! I'll go get the lock picking set Mum gave me!" exclaimed Megan, running off to look in her closet for her trust silver locks that Aunty Bex had once owned, and, I guessed, helped Mom break into top-secret places.

Ruby and Kaylie went to go get other stuff and I just sat on my bed, wondering what on earth I was getting myself into.

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"Mist, move up ahead," whispered Megan's voice in my ear. I was slowly inching along in the Hall of History, closer to my grandmothers' office that lead to her and Grandpa Joe's bedroom. Mist was my codename. I was see-through—I was there, but you never saw me—and I never _ever_ got caught.

"Goddess!" I hissed as I heard Grandpa Joe moving closer to my position. I pressed myself against the wall, glad I had taken Kaylie's advice to wear all black—black contacts, black catsuit, black boots (luckily not high-heeled)—so I was unseen in the dark shadows of my sleeping school.

"Ouch!" came Ruby's voice through my ear. "Trojan Horse, can you keep it down?" I whispered, praying Grandpa wouldn't hear me. He didn't though, no thanks to my roommates, and simply continued on, probably to the Sublevels.

"Trojan Horse" was Ruby's chosen codename. It was absolutely ridiculous (but try telling her that) and she claimed Trojan Horses could disguises and break into computers invisibly, which was her talent. I was invisible in the outside world, Ruby was invisible on a computer. Kaylie and Megan…well Kaylie and Megan had never truly hidden.

I kept inching slowly along the wall until I finally reached the doorknob. I made sure to check for any alarms that might be set off when I opened the doorknob, but there were none. I pressed my ear to the door as hard as I could, considering the room was completely sound-proof. I took a chance and turned the knob slowly, and was met with an empty office. I slipped inside through a crack no wider than two feet and closed the door gently behind me.

I made sure to place the bugs in sort of obvious places—like the underside of Grandma's desk drawer, a bug in the hidden electrical outlet behind the bookcase, and one IN the bookcase in a copy of _Art and War_ on page 279.

When I was finished I whispered, "Mission Success," into my comms unit, but Kaylie just said "Not just yet Mist, dear, you still need the bedroom."

"Just so you know, _Leopard_"—adding emphasis on her codename since I knew she hated it—"I'd like to see you try to bug the headmistress' room," I finished.

I could feel her smirk through to comms unit, "It's funner if you do it,"

"Actually, Leopard, _funner_ isn't grammatically correct," I heard Ruby's voice through the comms.

"Ruby, now is _not_ the time," came Megan's voice.

"Can you guys please shut up, seeing as I'm about to enter hostile territory?"

"Fine. Proceed, Mist."

"Thanks." I slid the tiny mobile bugs that Ruby had developed for the occasion under the door—they were camoflauged the same color as the floor so Grandma wouldn't see it—and waited.

"Kiddo, you're going to have to tell her sometime." It was Grandma's voice. There was only one person Grandma called kiddo.

Mom.

I heard my mother's breath through the phone line as she said, "Not yet, Mom. She deserves not to know…to…to have a bit of ignorance while she can."

Grandma sighed. "Whatever you think, kiddo. But I guess you're right. Lauren and Joey deserve not to know for at least a while."

My mother breathed deeply. "Thanks, Mom. I'll call you later, I guess; say hi to Joe for me."

"Bye, Kiddo."

Grandma hung up and sighed, and I carefully slid the bugs back over to my side, and slowly exited the room.

Just as I was running down the Hall of History, I ran into Grandpa Joe. He looked strangely at me and said, "What are you doing up right now, Lauren?"

I breathed and thought for about two seconds and said, "Megan and Kaylie decided it'd be fun if they took my favorite sweater and yoga pants and hid it in a passageway, leaving me nothing to wear but a really short shorts."

I said it just perfectly, like Nikki and Mom and Dad had taught me, and even Grandpa Joe himself. He studied me again, and I guess he believed it, because he smiled and said, "Good luck finding your clothes."

I breathed a small sigh of relief as he walked down the hallway and in my voice I heard, "Nice cover story, Mist."

"Thanks," I said, but wasn't thinking of my cover or my almost-fatal encounter.

I wasn't thinking.

**A/N So, how was it? It took me AT LEAST an hour to write, so I hope you liked it **

**Total Words in Chapter: 2,502 and 11 pages on Microsoft Word with Times New Roman 12 font **

**Review?**

**~Alex**


	3. Adam and Jace

**A/N Hello, guys! I got an awesome compliment saying that I write like Ally! Which is like a huge, huge compliment for me. And my aunt said I have a good writing style! So double points! Anyway…here…is chapter two.**

**Also, a new character gets introduced :D**

**A very hot one, I may add.**

**P.S. UNITED WE SPY SPOILERS! Major ones, I may add. **

**P.S.S To those readers of 'The Teenaged Life' I finally finished it. So go and check it out, and I'll be posting the first chapter of the sequel later this week.**

**~Alex**

**Lauren POV**

I wasn't thinking.

I couldn't scream or anything, because there were fingers clamped over my mouth, and an arm holding my waist, as to not let me escape. I kicked, and attempted a Litheryan Method on the offending figure, but they countered it easily, blocking my arm and stopping my momentum.

"Shhh," said the voice in my ear. It wasn't my friends' through the comms unit. The voice—it was a guy's voice, considering it was so deep—had disabled my comms unit, and Grandpa Joe was gone.

The guy pulled me into a passageway—one of my favorite ones—and finally let me go. I glared at him—I saw he was boy with blond hair and blue eyes and he was…well…hot—and he gave me a weird look.

"Tell me," I started in a slow voice, "Why in the world where you trying to kidnap me?"

"I wasn't trying to kidnap you."

"It sure looked like it!" I whisper-yelled, considering everyone would wake up if they heard a fifteen-year-old teenage girl screaming about kidnap. Instead the guy grabbed my wrist and looked me straight in the eye.

"Look," he started, "You're not safe here. At this school."

"This is one of the most secure places in the country!" I snapped. Then I grabbed his arm, pinned it behind his back and said, "Who are you? I don't know your name or anything, yet you're telling me to get away from here."

"My name is Adam. Happy?" he asked, not looking too worried that he was about to be attacked by a fifteen-year-old teenage girl who was seriously mad at that moment. Not to mention that the aforementioned teenage girl had spy skills. Good ones.

"Not necessarily, but it's a start."

"Gosh, no one told me you'd be this hard to convince," he said, pulling his hand away, and running it through his hair. I admit he was kind of hot at that moment.

"So you are trying to kidnap me?"

"No, I'm trying to _save_ you, Lauren. You don't get it. Someone out there has plans for this place. And you."

I looked at him. "This place was blown up twenty five years ago. By the Circle of Cavan. Because of my parents. But the Circle is gone."

Adam looked me straight in the eye, and said quietly, "That doesn't mean it didn't have allies."

"What are you talking about?"

"The Ring of Ashton. Michael Ashton formed his own organization—but it was much smaller than the Circle, and much less known. But just as powerful. So the Circle allied with them, and after the Circle fell, the Ring of Ashton vanished. Most of their power depended on the Circle, but when it fell, they were powerless. Weak. But they slowly regained power. And now they're after the school," he finished slowly, as if trying not to shock me too much. But it was too late.

"The Ring of Ashton," I repeated slowly, trying on the words for size. "It…it sounds familiar."

I was in a trance. I didn't know what I was doing, but I slowly led the way down the passageway, to the end, where, if you push on a stone in the wall, it opens to reveal the ground of Gallagher. I inched outside, being careful to not be seen by the cameras or trip the motion detectors. I didn't know where my feet were leading me as I walked the perimeter, Adam following behind me, probably guessing I was crazy.

When my feet stopped, I saw something engraved in the wall. I traced it over with my fingers, _Michael R. Ashton_.

Adam came to stand beside me and started, "Lauren…do you…?"

I shook my head, and even in the pitch black I saw Adam reach out to touch the engraving. "I don't know what that means," I told him.

At that moment, shrill alarms started screaming, "CODE BLACK CODE BLACK CODE BLACK."

"I have to go," said Adam, and he turned to run away, but I called after him, "Wait!"

Adam turned back again and said, "You'll be seeing me again, Lauren. Don't worry about it, okay?"

I just nodded numbly, and turned to scramble into the passageway before I was locked out of the building entirely.

I burst through the tapestry, and saw what is known as chaos. Girls running everywhere, not in panic, but in order. Seniors standing guard by the doors, juniors blocking windows, sophomores rounding everyone up, freshmen helping the juniors, and seventh and eighth graders in the Grand Hall, scared.

When I got through the tapestry, I saw Grandma Rachel there, looking straight at me. She wasn't mad, something told me, but more worried.

"Lauren," she said sternly.

"Grandma, I swear, I—" I started, but she just said, "Now, Lauren."

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I followed her silently up the sweeping west staircase, girls glancing at me at every step I took, and I followed my grandmother through the Hall of History and into her office, where Grandpa Joe was waiting.

"Why were you out of the building?" asked Grandma.

So I told her the whole story. Except the part about the dare of course—I did _not_ need to get in trouble with my parents for that.

I told her about the engraving on the outside of the school, and, at that, Grandma and Grandpa exchanged looks between each other that I didn't understand.

"What? What is it?" I asked them, but Grandpa just shook his head.

"It's nothing."

"So there _is_ and it!"

Grandpa Joe looked impressed for a second, but then Grandma Rachel cut in, "It's _probably_ nothing."

"Then tell me. I deserve to know."

"No, you don't, Laur. It's need-to-know," Grandma said quietly.

"But I should know!"

"Go to bed, Lauren. It was probably just a false alarm," she said sternly.

I obeyed, but as I walked up to my suite, alone, I thought about Adam. He seemed honest, but I didn't know if I could trust him. He could be trying to honeypot me for information, because isn't that what people in this business do? Lie, honeypot, steal, anything to achieve their means.

"What happened?" was my greeting when I enterd my suite; that, and three scorching look from the best teenaged spies ever.

"Nothing," I mumbled, looking down. I started to go to the bathroom to get ready to go to sleep, but Megan caught my arm.

"Not so fast, Lauren, dear. I'll say it nicely one more time. _What happened?_"

So yeah, that's basically how I ended up telling my best friends about Adam. He was your random teenage boy spy—of course I _knew_ teenage boy spies; I did have cousins after all. Well, aka, Megan's two older brothers—he was kind of…strange though. For one, how did he know who I was?

"Well, there _is_ such a thing as hacking into the CIA database, Laur," said Ruby, since apparently I'd said that out loud.

"Yeah," I started slowly, "But remember that your parents—best hackers _ever_—created that database? The one with all our information and all of our parents' information? _Which means it is unhackable_. I mean, even you can't hack it, Ruby, so that means he must be getting information through another source."

"Well there is _one_ way," said Megan, devilish grin and _Meganish_ attitude in place, "Laur, have you talked to any boys apart from family?"

I thought for a second and said, finally, "Well, near the end of summer break, at Starbucks one day there was this cute boy who said hi to me and asked my name and what school I went to."

"Lauren!"

"Really, Laur, I thought I taught you better."

"Maybe he tried hacking into the database after that!"

Yeah, to be honest, which is kind of the point of me writing this, Ruby's statement didn't really make sense. But they were right.

"Since when do you give out what school you go to, Laur?" asked Kaylie, crossing her long legs on her bed. I began to speak, but then she cut me off, "No, wait, scratch that. Let me ask you something more important. What did he look like?"

I thought for a minute, trying to fully remember that August day when I'd walked into Starbucks with Nicole, and she'd gone to order, and I'd talked to the boy.

"Umm," I racked my brains, "Brown-blond hair…brown eyes…handsome…tall…said his name was Jace—"

"Wait, what?" asked Kaylie slowly. "Did you say his name was Jace?" She was sitting up straighter, more at attention.

"Yeah. Said his name was Jace and he was visiting California, but lived in Vermont. Why? Do you know him?"

"Well, I met him one day," admitted Kaylie. "Mom was going with the president's daughter to protect her, and so was Jace's mom. Jace's mother was protecting the vice-president's daughter, who lived in Vermont. So we spent about a week training in the CIA training base. That's how I know Jace. His name is Jace Wilkins. Well, Jason, technically, and he fits your description."

"That means Adam and Jace know each other—probably well since they're working together to get information and 'save me'," I said, trying to recollect everything.

"Not necessarily," Megan spoke up. She finished stretching her left leg, then said, "I mean, Adam could know all this—like you said, Laur—and he could just be telling Jace to try to collect information on you for a mission, or somewhat."

Ruby had been quiet during all this time, planning. "I guess," she spoke slowly, measuring her words, "I could try to hack into his profile. It'd take a long time, but it would be worth it."

"How long?" asked Megan, looking excited about our new mission.

Ruby hesitated for a second then said, "Seven hours of hacking should do, I'd say."

"Saturday, then," I told my friends. "Saturday is when we have a lot of time."

"Oh!" Kaylie bolted up, "We're going to town on Saturday!"

I groaned. "Kay, now's _not_ the time to be worrying about buying clothes at—"

"No, not the clothes!" Kaylie exclaimed, looking excited. "I mean, _we're going to town on Saturday. _Adam—or Jace—could be looking for you in town that day. Try to communicate with you or something. And we'd be hearing every word," she finished with a grin.

Megan smiled her devilish grin. "I like it. I'm in."

We turned to Ruby. "I could make my cameras into hair pins and necklaces. That way we'd get audio _and_ visuals."

Everyone turned to me. I sighed. "It's the only plan we've got, I say, so full steam ahead."

"Then we've got some planning to make."

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Let me tell you something real quick about planning a mission—half the time you're wondering if you've got to right information or if you're dead drop is going to work, or something similar. That's what planning Operation Ashton (as Megan dubbed it) was like. We weren't sure if Adam or Jace even were going to show up—which was okay with us, to be honest. While there, even if they didn't show up, I could show my friends the carving, and we could dissect what Adam had told me.

So that's why, on Saturday morning, our suite smelled like perfume and curling irons, and at that moment we were teenaged girls—not spies, which was the scary part—and I couldn't help but say to my friends, "You know, I don't think we're going to a dance or anything!"

"You know, she's right," said Ruby, who was sitting with her laptop on her desk, brown eyes squinting against the screen trying to do two thing: activate my camera so my friends would get a view—just not at school since the jammers didn't permit that; my friends would be going to Dunkin' Donuts—and trying her best to start hacking into Jason Wilkins profile. It was difficult work for poor Ruby.

Megan gave an exasperated sigh. "We're trying to make her stand out, so Adam or Jace can see her better."

"But I don't want to be seen," I retorted. That was what I was good at—not being seen. Hiding in plain sight, as my mother called it. Blending in, unseen, was my ability. Not sticking out like Miss Popular.

Kaylie sighed, putting the brush she was using in her mouth while she readjusted my hair. "Laur, that's the problem. You're good at not being seen. That is why they may not see you. Heck, even _we_ can't find you," she said, signaling to Ruby, Megan and herself.

"But Adam saw me," I said quietly, not really wanted to be heard. But my friends were Gallagher Girls. They heard everything.

So they became silent and turned to look at me, so I carried on, "Adam saw me in the middle of the night. Near a secret passage way. That he already knew existed. He knew. He _saw_ me," I repeated again, more for my benefit that my friends.

"Fine. We'll only put minimal stuff, okay, Laur?" asked Kaylie.

I nodded, and sat quietly until Megan said, "You're ready to go. Ruby, you got the camera?"

Ruby nodded, and tucked her second-favorite laptop under her thin arm. "Let's go."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

To be honest, it didn't feel like a mission. It felt like a Saturday where I could go with my friends to town and hang out; not caring what the Roseville people thought of us. On the way there, looking at my friends' grim expressions, I had half a min to call it of—to say that maybe it was just all a crazy dream or hallucination—and go enjoy our Saturday.

When the van let us off near the edge of Roseville, my friends all gave me a, "Good luck" and headed together toward Dunkin' Donuts. I slipped through the crowd of Roseville kids, in normal clothing; just jeans and a tank top with a leather jacket over it. I was wearing pretty much the same outfit as every other girl in the square, and I blended in easily, except for my maneuvers. At five second intervals, I would check to see if anyone was a bit _too_ into me, but saw nothing.

After about half an hour of waiting; a half hour when my friends had probably already gotten hot chocolate and donuts at the coffee shop, while I sat here, hungry and a bit cold.

Finally, I heard, "Lauren?" behind me.

I turned around to see none other than Adam standing there. "Adam?"

"Nice try, Beauty Queen, but you don't seem that surprised to see me here."

I couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed. He'd seen me. He'd known I was expecting him. He'd called me _Beauty Queen?_ What did that mean?

"Oh, and also," Adam stopped, and took my hair clip in his hand and took it off, "Tell you're roommates not to spy." He crushed the clip in his hand, and smirked at me. "Nice try, Beauty Queen."

"That was my favorite hair clip!"

"Sorry," he said, but he didn't _seem_ sorry. Then his hands closed over the necklace on my neck—it was my favorite locket; a gold heart with a picture of me and my parents—and he must have noticed that it meant a lot to me_, _so he didn't crush it. Instead he placed it in the pocket of my jacket. Luckily, he didn't realize the camera had audio.

"Look, what I told you about Michael Ashton, he—"

"He had a daughter. I know," I cut him off. He took a deep breath as if a part of him didn't want to say what he knew he had to say.

"Lauren," he said, his voice low, "You're ancestor is Michael Ashton."

I looked at him in shock. "My…my ancestor?"

He looked me straight in the eye and said, "Yes. He's your mother great-great-great-great-grandfather."

"But—"

"You're parents aren't evil. I know that. They're proven their loyalty more than enough times," he said, measuring the amount of things he said—as if he didn't want to give away too much to me.

"Adam," I started, "Why does the Ring of Ashton want me? Why doesn't it want my little brother Joey or my older sister Nicole?"

"I don't know."

"Has the Ring of Ashton done anything major in the past decade?"

"They've been behind two minor assassinations; that I know of. But it was just a common person. Not anyone who actually knows something."

Adam glanced around the square, saw that it was emptying—that his cover might be blown if wer were one of the few people left here.

"I have to go, but promise me something, okay?"

"Okay."

"Promise that you won't go anywhere alone or try not to use the passageways leading outside too much—or at all," he used his finger to brush some strands of dark hair away from my face.

"I promise."

He breathed deeply, turned on his heel, and said, "'Bye, Beauty Queen."

"Wait!" I called after him, needing to know just one other thing.

He turned around and I asked him, "What's your name?" He looked at me, and for a split second I thought he might laugh, but instead he smirked and said, "You know that, Beauty Queen."

"I meant your full name."

"Adam Michaels."

"Thanks," I told him, and he smirked at me, and I turned around, then looked back for a split second.

But Adam was already gone.

**A/N I feel proud of this chapter :D It's over 3000 words long! Admit it, I'm making longer chapters, right? Right *shakes*? Review for a tiny sneak peek of the next chapter.**

**Get to know the author time!**

**Something I like: Anime. Or manga. I love it. My friends got me into it and I read an entire series in like two hours and I felt so proud :D **

**Something I dislike: Having my PS3 lag on me. Like, you're about to win something and it lags on you and you lose and you're like "Noooo!"**

**~Alex**


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